Individual taxpayer PPS line

• (866) 860-4259, option 3
• PPS operating hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (your local time), Monday through Friday

Regardless of day, the best time to call for your individual taxpayer clients is first thing in the morning, between 7 a.m. (ET) and 8:15 a.m. (ET). Even when we called at 9:30 a.m. – the next best option – the average hold time increased by five times.

Business taxpayer PPS line

• (866) 860-4259, option 4
• PPS operating hours: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (your local time), Monday through Friday

For the business PPS line, the biggest determining factor for hold time is day of the week. The best day to call is Monday. We found no discernible difference in hold times between morning and afternoon. Can’t call Monday? Early morning (7 a.m. sharp) is your best bet on other days.

Calling the IRS isn’t always predictable – sometimes you just get lucky. There’s always an exception to the rule. However, we found that the worst time to call is 11 a.m. or later on Friday. We made 32 calls in that timeframe, and only twice were we on hold for less than 15 minutes.